''Pretty Sammy'' is a spin-off series of the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' universe, taking the existing characters and re-purposing them for a tongue-in-cheek MagicalGirl show. It spans three [=OAVs=] (''Magical Girl Pretty Sammy'') and a 26-episode TV series (''Magical Girl Pretty Sammy TV'', or ''Magical Project S'' in the United States).

The basic plot of both the OVA and the TV series is the same: in the magical land of Juraihelm, a ditzy but kind mage called Tsunami is chosen to be the next queen. Rumia, her main rival to the throne, is pissed off something fierce by this and plots to sabotage Tsunami's claim.

As part of the succession rites, Tsunami must choose a "kindred spirit" on Earth to bestow magical powers upon so that her protégé can help restore the [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Balance of Good and Evil]] that has become misaligned in the former queen's absence. Tsunami chooses a precocious girl named Sasami Kawai, who is less-than-thrilled with the dated costume and extra baggage that comes with being a designated crusader of justice. However, unknown to Tsunami, Rumia has ''also'' chosen a "kindred spirit" to create a DarkMagicalGirl [[TheRival rival]] that will derail Sasami's efforts: Misao Amano, Sasami's shy and lonely best friend who is [[BrainwashedAndCrazy hypnotized]] into the [[BeneathTheMask raging Id]] known as Pixy Misa.

The OVA and TV series divulge in a few aspects, most notably how certain ''Tenchi Muyo!'' alumni are re-cast. The TV series is also much more dedicated to being an AffectionateParody of the MagicalGirl genre with its own unique cast of characters instead of a simple AlternateUniverse short.

The TV series had a strange official release in English: unlike every other iteration of the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise, the show was released in a subtitles-only format without an English dub. It was also advertised as being intended for very young children (ages 3 and up) and had mild censorship to fit this demographic, despite the fact that their target audience was too young to ''read''. This release is currently out of print.

A three-volume ''Pretty Sammy'' manga series was also released in Japan, but [[NoExportForYou no English version was ever produced]]. The series is a little odd, in that the first half of the first volume is based on ''Magical Girl Pretty Sammy'', while the remaining two-and-a-half volumes are based on ''Magical Project S''. A two-part short story based on the OVA continuity also appeared in an issue of the ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' manga.

----!!These shows provide examples of:* TheAce: Sasami's Father.* AmazonBrigade: A villainous example with Team Sexy Mrs. (aka Team Lovely Madams) in the TV series.* AndTheAdventureContinues: Ending of ''Magical Project S''. Also parodied. [[spoiler: At the end of the episode Tsunami asks Sasami to become a MagicalGirl again (with [[EleventhHourSuperpower an upgraded]] MagicWand) to stop a problem on Mars. TheStinger reveals that the problem was hostile Martians led by Romio and then shows that Sammy and Misa have arrived to stop her. The very last scene is an attack that leaves a ''giant heart-shaped hole in Mars''.]]* AnimeThemeSong* AnthropomorphicPersonification: See episode 20 of ''Magical Project S''.* AntiVillain: Just about all of her main enemies.* AtArmsLength: In episode 17 when Pretty Sammy fights against ''Team Lovely Madams''* BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil: There is an actual Good/Evil scale that most of the series spends on balancing.* BeneathTheMask Misao Amano , as a matter of fact she inspired the trope* BerserkButton: Never tell Bif Standard that his software is slow.* BlandNameProduct / ParodyNames : In episode 2 of the OAV, [=StandardSoft=] is a parody of Microsoft, the [=SynchroniCity=] OS is a parody of Microsoft Windows, and the Pineapple Mach 8 OS is a parody of the [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Apple Macintosh]].* {{Bowdlerization}}: In ''Magical Project S'', almost all instances of the word "Sexy" were replaced with "Lovely" (e.g., "Sexy Calling Mystics!" became "Lovely Calling Mystics!", and the Team Sexy Mrs. became Team Lovely Madams), presumably because the series was released as rated "3 and Up" on Pioneer's rating system.* {{Brainwashed}}: In one episode of Magical Project S Konoha gets Sammy's wand and uses it to become a magical girl. She then proceeds to make Hiroto fall in love with her and even dresses him up to as a prince. However it has hilarious repercussions.** Also happens to [[spoiler: Eimi]].* {{Butt Monkey}}: Rumiya and Sasami in the TV series.* CallingYourAttacks: Played straight for the most part.* CardCarryingVillain: Pixy Misa.* CerebusSyndrome: In ''Magical Project S''. It starts off as a full blown parody of the MagicalGirl genre where the characters can and do BreakTheFourthWall. (A notable exception is episode 12, which is somewhat serious.) This culminates in a two-parter in episodes 16 and 17 where the BigBad forcibly recruits a group of housewives who eventually take on the military. The arc finally ends with Pretty Sammy using the PowerOfLove for the first time...leading into the rather serious episode 18. And then the trope sets in with episodes 19 and 20 - the comedy vanishes entirely and the plot becomes ''very'' DarkerAndEdgier. But then...** CerebusRollercoaster: The comedy begins to return in episode 21. However, the show does not return to being a parody of magical girl series. In fact, the show ''[[IndecisiveParody becomes]]'' [[IndecisiveParody a magical girl series]], one which has about equal amounts of seriousness and silliness.* ClarkKenting: Sasami and Sammy look pretty much identical except for their clothing, yet nobody except Washu seems to put two and two together immediately.[[spoiler: In the end of the final episode, when she's re-recruited in front of everyone, it's revealed that they all knew from the moment they saw her, but since she insisted that she was "Pretty Sammy", not "Sasami", and seemed so embarrassed, they decided to play along. Naturally Sasami is mortified.]]* ClassRepresentative: Eimi Date in the TV series.* ClingyJealousGirl: Konoha Haida is this way around Hiroto. Ditto for Ryoko and Tenchi in the [=OAVs=].* DarkMagicalGirl: Pixy Misa and [[spoiler:Romio]]* ADayInTheLimelight: [[spoiler: Funky Connie]]* DoItYourselfThemeTune: The openings to both the original OVAs and ''Magical Project S'' were sung by Sasami's voice actress, Chisa Yokoyama. Yokoyama also provided the first and last ending themes for the original OVAs.* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Ramia often abuses her young brother Rumiya when she is angry. Always PlayedForLaughs [[KarmaHoudini without repercussion]].* EmpathicWeapon: Sammy's Baton* EnemyWithin: Pixy Misa is a part of Misao that she's not aware of, and gradually is growing stronger. [[spoiler:After TheReveal and JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, they start to integrate.]]* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: How Misa reacted when she saw her parents in episode 19.* EverybodyKnewAlready: Turns out everybody was just "being polite". (On the other hand, it's suggested that at least initially they thought Sammy and Sasami were two different people).* EvilCostumeSwitch: Inverted as when Hiroto is brainwashed by Konoha into falling in love with her she dresses him up in princely attire but it doesn't make him evil.* {{Expy}}: In ''Magical Project S'', some of the characters-of-the-day are based on characters in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' series, like Shinobi Hagakure being an expy of Achika, Genjuro Hagakure an expy of Katsuhito, and Nobuyuki Onijigoku an expy of Nobuyuki. Of course, there's Ayeka and Ryoko as Romio and Oryo, respectively.* EyeCatch: ''Magical Project S'' used a typical Eye Catch, though in at least one episode Pretty Sammy's appearance at the end of the Eye Catch was replaced by her parents dressed as Sammy and Ryo-Ohki. Episode 20 notably has a completely unique eye catch, [[CerebusSyndrome illustrating the gravity of the story]].* EyesAlwaysShut: Kenji.* FacialMarkings* FailureIsTheOnlyOption:Ramia will never become the Queen.* FallenHero: [[spoiler:Romio!]]* FrillyUpgrade: In the OAV, Pretty Sammy transforms into Hyper Sammy before casting her Pretty Coquettish Bomber.* GenderFlip: Ryo-Oh-Ki is a boy in this continuity. * GenkiGirl: Misa is very... yeah. So is Washu.* GenreBusting: ''Magical Project S'' started as a parody of magical girls, but then becomes an indecisive parody that sometimes took its elements seriously. Then it explored psychological and deep themes, then explored the concept of friendship. Afterward it went to romance.* GratuitousEnglish: Misa spouts a ''lot'' of this. It's really quite distracting.* HeelFaceTurn* HollywoodToneDeaf: Eimi Date* HumansAreBastards: [[spoiler: The reason Romio wants to destroy Earth]]* IJustWantToBeNormal: Sasami doesn't exactly want to be Pretty Sammy. It's not that she terribly minds the magic stuff, it's just the outfit is ''really'' embarrassing...* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Misao Amano * IJustWantToHaveFriends: This is Misao wish despite being very shy* IllGirl: Misao in the OVA series is suggested to be this.* ImageSong: For Pretty Sammy, Pixy Misa and later....[[spoiler: Love Me Eimi]]** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1G-X0t95NU&feature=related Also Rumiya.]]* IndecisiveParody: In ''Magical Project S'', and it was likely intentional. The first seventeen episodes are an obvious parody of the MagicalGirl genre (with the possible exception of the somewhat serious episode 12). Episode 18, however, isn't much of a parody at all. And then [[CerebusSyndrome episodes 19 and 20 are]] '''[[DarkerAndEdgier dead serious]]'''. After that the series plays the Magical Girl genre straight, though not without injecting plenty of comedy and some [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall breakage]].* InnocentInnuendo: Inverted? [[spoiler: Sasami and her father are playing in the bathtub and her father goes under the water making her blush...Squick.]]* InTheNameOfTheMoon: Inconsistent, but Sammy sometimes gives a speech* InterspeciesRomance: Hinted at — see the IntimateHealing entry below.* IntimateHealing: In the OVA, [[spoiler: Ryo-Ohki takes a human form and kisses Sasami to revive her.]]* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: How Sasami finally "cures" Misao/Pixy Misa. [[spoiler:Turns out Pixy Misa is powered by Misao's feelings of worthlessness, made ''worse'' by Sasami doing everything for her.]]* KaraokeBox: In the OVA series, Chihiro Kawai (Sasami and Tenchi's mother) is a karaoke addict.* KeepItForeign: In the English dubbed [=OAVs=], Pixy Misa's GratuitousEnglish became French.* KnightTemplar: Parodied [[spoiler: Love Me Eimi's song: I'll protect the world....By destroying it! Love Me Eimi Protector of the Universe!]]* TheLancer: [[spoiler:Misa]] to Sammy near the end of the series.* LaughablyEvil: Pixy Misa is this tropes with a T.* LemonyNarrator: Of sorts. Occasionally 'Magical Project S'' will have text appear on screen that is overly critical of the characters. In at least one episode [[InteractiveNarrator the characters seem to react to it.]]* LighterAndSofter: Versus ''Anime/TenchiMuyo''. ''Anime/SasamiMagicalGirlsClub'' is a LighterAndSofter version of ''this'' series.* LivingWithTheVillain: Sasami and Misao are best friends in real life, but bitter enemies transformed. The latter is unaware of what she's doing, however. The two discover each other's identities later on.* LukeIAmYourFather: Subverted on the last episode.* MadScientist: Washu.* MagicalGirlQueenlinessTest: Albeit it's Tsunami, not Pretty Sammy/Sasami who is the candidate for Queen but Pretty Sammy is her champion and her success is instrumental in Tsunami getting the throne * {{Magitek}}: One of the later characters in the TV series employees a lot of this.* TheManBehindTheMan* MentorMascot: Ryo-Ohki* MindControlDevice: When Konoha gets a hold of Sammy's wand, she uses it to make Hiroto fall in love with her with hilarious repercussions.* MiniDressOfPower* MisplacedKindergartenTeacher: Mihoshi* MonogenderMonsters: In the TV series, every last one of the Love-Love Monsters is female.* MoreThanMindControl: Misao, while certainly acting different as Pixy Misa, isn't really being brainwashed.* MonsterOfTheAesop* MonsterOfTheWeek* MoodDissonance: Later episodes still retain the very light-hearted opening and ending in spite of the episodes they sandwich.* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Sasami is unknowingly responsible for Pixy Misa]].* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler:Turns out Ramia's idea of transforming Misao to Misa in the day where her father is coming for a visit just gives the result of Sasami and Misao discovering each other's magical girl identities]].* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: In the TV series the episode, "East Vs. West", is, to put it simply, [[CoolVersusAwesome ninjas vs. cowboys]]. Pretty Sammy is on the side of the ninjas, while Pixy Misa on the side of the cowboys. [[spoiler:The ninjas eventually win after figuring out ways to counter the cowboys, but the ninja leader then decides he was mistaken too since only destruction comes from disputes, and offers to use both ninjas ''and'' cowboys in the entertainment land.]]* NotBrainwashed: Pixy Misa. Turns out Pixy Misa is a repressed persona * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: In the second OAV episode, Bif Standard, owner of Standardsoft, is a parody of Microsoft's Bill Gates.* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Misa is this way around Sammy, even assisting her a couple times.* OpenMindedParent: Sasami's parents don't seem the slightest bit fazed when they finally figure out who Sammy is.* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Both Sammy and Misa are just average fourth grade students given extraordinary abilities.* ParentalAbandonment: Misao rarely ever sees her mother and hasn't seen her father in years at the start of the series, having to stay home alone a lot.* ThePowerOfFriendship* ThePowerOfLove* PrettyInMink: One of her outfits has furry puff balls on her boots... and her wand.* PunchClockVillain: Rumiya* QuirkyHousehold: Sasami's parents are practically certifiably insane, but seem to still operate well enough to survive.* RealTrailerFakeMovie: The fake trailer for the ''Pretty Sammy TV'' (AKA ''Magical Project S'') movie, ''Magical Girl Pretty Sammy The Motion Picture: The God Boys VS. Magical Girls''. It parodies practically every movie trailer cliche in the book.* RightBehindMe: Sort of. Misa teleported to America without realizing that her classmates Hiroto, Kenji, Konoha, and Eimi have discovered her secret.* SaveBothWorlds* ShoutOut: In''Magical Project S'', one of Sasami's classmates notes that her cousin is Jinnai from ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld''** In Episode 8 Sasami pulls out her {{Nintendo 64}}.** In episode 13, when Honoka attempts to explain how she and Ginji met to Sasami, a brief shot appears directly referencing a near identical scene in ''[[Anime/LupinIIIGreenJacket Lupin the Third: Part I]]'', with Ginji replacing Lupin (while wearing Lupin's red jacket from ''Part II'') and Honoka added in as Fujiko (who wasn't there in the referenced shot).* ShowdownAtHighNoon* ShrinkingViolet: Misao.* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Especially in Magical Project S.* SparklingStreamOfTears* SpinOff: The show itself is a spin off of Tenchi Muyo and the OAV series.* SpoilerOpening: The episode titles, especially ones like [[spoiler:"Farewell Team Lovely Madams!"]]* SpoofAesop: A couple of these come up.* TheStinger: Last episode of ''Magical Project S''.* StockFootage: Lots of it shows up in the TV series. It was even spoofed in one episode where Sammy had been physically altered, yet the footage remains the same and Sammy can't figure out why she changed right back.* {{Stripperiffic}}: Misa's outfit is commented on by other people as being very gaudy.* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Played straight considering this is a spoof, but later subverted by Pixy Misa.* {{Tearjerker}}: Sasami and Misao discovering their magical girl identities and fighting each other all this time.** In the same episode, Pixy Misa gets a VillainousBSOD when she sees her father and mother together looking for her.** The entire 20th episode.* ThirdPersonPerson: Sasami in the Japanese version.* ThrowTheDogABone: The last episode of Magical Project S is this for Rumiya. * TransformationSequence: This gets spoofed early on in the TV series, with Misa gleefully kicking down Sammy after a transformation, with the latter saying "no fair attacking while I'm posing".* VillainousHarlequin: Pixy Misa* VillainSong: Pixy Misa's image song.* VomitDiscretionShot: Happens to Mihoshi after Chihiro kicks her in the stomach in OAV 2.* WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld----